Personal and family papers of archaeologist, historian and MSU alumnus James R. Atkinson, including manuscripts of writings, newspapers, books and periodicals and other research materials, letters, financial records, legal records, political materials, extension records, photographs, essay, artifacts, maps and other materials. Papers include manuscripts of Atkinson's articles, thesis and papers and research materials, including materials documenting the history of Chickasaw County, Mississippi, Levi Naron (Chickasaw the Scout), freedmen, the Brazil and Willie Mae Jones family and other Chickasaw County subjects. Family papers include Homemakers Club materials of Mrs. Sidney Atkinson, 1951-1953, publications collected by the A.K. Craig family (1841-1912), letters documenting the sweet potato sprout business of A.T. House (1931), an essay by Malinda Waldrop and other materials. See also Sidney and Jimmie Ada Atkinson papers. Archaeological and historical papers include research materials on the Chickasaw Indian for his book Splendid Land, Splendid People: the Chickasaw Indian to Removal; research materials related to archaeological surveys; materials related to Atkinson's work for the National Park Service. Unprocessed. Preliminary inventory available.

Baskin family papersMSS. 22. 1869-1948 and undated. 1 cubic foot.

Includes records created by the family Robert Ren Baskin (1854-1911) and Rebecca J. Simpson Baskin (1863-1962). The collection consists of correspondence, financial and legal records, and miscellaneous personal, political, agricultural, medical, religious, and educational materials. Records created by the family of Robert Ben Baskin (1854-1911), and Rebecca J. Simpson Baskin (1863-1961). Includes Ku Klux Klan material, 1900-1935 and undated, and a greeting card with African-American caricature, undated.

Papers of Bolton (1953-2009), editorial cartoonist for the Jackson, Mississippi, Clarion Ledger from 1986-1996. Included are sketches and cartoons from his college days at the University of South Carolina, and unpublished sketches and correspondence with publishers (1982-1983). The collection bulks with cartoons drawn by Bolton for the Clarion-Ledger, but also includes cartoons drawn for the Council Bluffs, Iowa, Nonpareil, the Columbia, South Carolina, State, the Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Sun News, the Moultrie, South Carolina, Moultrie News, and the Bellevue, Nebraska, Leader. Topics include Mississippi, local and national politics, education, gambling, public welfare, human and civil rights, and Mississippi and South Carolina events and personalities.

Materials collected by Ona Johnson Boyd, Mississippi State University alumna and teacher, and supervisor for the WPA Historical Records Survey in Kemper County, Mississippi, during the 1930's Historical Survey project, including church minutes, interviews with local citizens, newspaper clippings, family histories, transcripts of letters, diaries, articles, and other materials documenting the history of Kemper County. The collection also contains some materials commenting on the WPA project operation, and some personal materials.

Correspondence, speeches, editorials, photographs, clippings, and memorabilia, relating primarily to Norman Bradley's career as a journalist and editor with the Jackson, Mississippi, Clarion-Ledger, the Associated Press, the Jackson State Times, The Chattanooga Post, and The Chattanooga Times. Frances Weems Bradley was the food editor of The Chattanooga Times.

Broadside collectionMSS. 332. 1884-1979. circa 1 cubic foot.

Broadsides documenting Mississippi history and arranged in the following categories: politics, education, entertainment and miscellaneous. Collection of broadsides documenting Mississippi history include political campaign posters of Charles Evers, Aaron Henry and Henry Kirksey (1971, 1978).

Byrd (Elvira) papersMSS. 371. 1866-1964. 1 cubic foot.

Papers consist of the family correspondence of Elvira Rea Byrd, (1843-1930), who founded the newspaper the Brookhaven News in 1887. In addition to Brookhaven, places represented include Oakley and Parchman penitentiaries, where Stanley Byrd was a pharmacist; and Santa Ana and Brownwood, Texas. Also included are 3 letters from Congressman Ethelbert Barksdale.

Correspondence, literacy manuscripts, class notes and school records, genealogical and historical research materials, publications, photographs, and other materials documenting the education, career, organizational, research and publication activities, and the personal affairs of Cyril and Annie Cain. Cyril Cain (1883-1969) was a high school teacher, principal, Mississippi State University faculty member, genealogist, and writer. His wife, Annie Gray Cain (b. 1889) taught in schools around Mississippi, including the Starkville Municipal Separate School District, and assisted her husband with his research and writing.

Correspondence, estate papers, deeds, genealogical material, clippings, and memorabilia, of the related families of Calhoun, Kincannon, and Orr in Lee, Pontotoc, Lafayette, and Lowndes Counties, Mississippi. Includes claim by Mrs. Jane Stuart Orr Calhoun against the government for war confiscations and letter from U.S. Ambassador James L. Orr in St. Petersburg, Russia, to his brother Jehu. Contains article "The Caucasian and the Negro", by William P. Calhoun, Greenville, South Carolina.

Correspondence, personal papers, literary manuscripts, and publications concerning the Carters and their careers. Hodding Carter (1907-1972) was born in Louisiana and attended Bowdoin College and the Columbia University School of Journalism. He began his career in journalism in the 1920's as a reporter in Jackson, Mississippi, and New Orleans, Louisiana. Carter and Betty Werlein of New Orleans were married in 1931, and soon after started their own newspaper, the Hammond (Louisiana) Courier. With Hodding as editor and Betty as business manager, the Courier consistently opposed the rule of Huey Long. Hodding Carter ran for the House of Representatives in 1935 after Long's death, but was defeated. In 1936, at the invitation of William Alexander Percy, the Carters moved to Greenville, Mississippi and set up the Delta Star. Two years later the Star was merged to form the Delta Democrat-Times. Carter was best known after World War II for his editorials, magazine articles, books, and speeches advocating racial justice in the south. Carter's 1946 series urging racial tolerance earned him the Pulitzer Prize. In 1954, the Mississippi House of Representatives voted him a "liar" for his articles on the Citizens' Councils. The Carter papers document the important events and social movements to which the Carters were witnesses or participants, such as the political careers of Huey Long and Theodore Bilbo, World War II, the Office of War Information, the rise of the Citizen's Councils in the 1950's, the integration of the University of Mississippi in 1962, and changes in race relations throughout the country. Hodding Carter (1907-1972) was the owner of the Hammond (La.) Courier and the Delta Star (Greenville, Miss.), which later became the Delta Democrat-Times. Among other important social and political events of the time, the Carter papers document the rise of the Citizen's Councils in the 1950s, the integration of the University of Mississippi in 1962, and changes in race relations throughout the country.

The collection consists of the personal and business papers of William Turner Catledge (1901-1983), graduate of Mississippi A&M College, journalist, and editor of The New York Times. The bulk of the files date from 1945 to 1968, the period during which Catledge served as assistant managing editor, executive managing editor, managing editor, and executive editor of the Times. Included are correspondence, memoranda, clippings, reports, photographs, tapes, phonograph records, memorabilia, and publications. The collection is divided into two series: 1 - papers transferred to MSU from the Catledge home in New Orleans; and, 2 - office files transferred to MSU from the Times office in New York.

Citizens' Council collectionMSS. 331. 1955-1967. 1 cubic foot.

Includes correspondence, annual reports, and publications of the Association of Citizens' Councils of Mississippi, the Citizens' Council of America, and various other organizations. Includes correspondence, annual reports, and publications of the Association of Citizens' Councils of Mississippi, the Citizens' Council of America, and various other organizations. Among the documents are pamphlets opposing integration and promoting white supremacy.

Radio programs produced by the Citizens' Council of Jackson, Mississippi, 1957-1966, covering issues like states rights and integration. Transcripts available for the bulk of the tapes. Speakers include George Wallace and Strom Thurmond.

Correspondence, reports, and other documents concerning Cully A. Cobb (1884-1975), his activities with the Cotton Division of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (1933-1937), his operation of the Ruralist Press in Atlanta, Georgia (1937-1971), and numerous other topics. Contains a large group of agricultural photographs accumulated for and used in The Ruralist, including photographs of African-Americans.

Cobb (Cully Alton) papersMSS. 47. 1932-1967. 10 cubic feet.

Papers of Cully Alton Cobb (1884-1975), publisher and MSU graduate of the class of 1908 include correspondence relating to Mr. Cobb's candidacy for Secretary of Agriculture (1932-1933); correspondence, memoirs, government forms, clippings from Mr. Cobb's period of service with Agricultural Adjustment Administration (1933-1937); speeches, photographs, copies of certificates, genealogy The Cobbs of Tennessee; scrapbooks of Cobb's activities; other materials. See also Cully A. Cobb/Ruralist Press papers.

The Allen Eugene Cox papers contain the papers of Allen Eugene Cox (1905-1992), former resident director of Providence Cooperative Farm, Holmes County, Mississippi, and later executive director of the Delta Foundation. The papers include correspondence, ledgers, newspaper clippings, publications, photographs and films. Correspondence, published material, clippings, and other material collected by Allen Eugene Cox of the Delta Foundation, chiefly pertaining to the racial problems in the South and cooperative farms. Includes information on the White Citizens' Council, Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission, National Council of Churches, COFO, NAACP, SNCC and related organizations, farm labor unions, cooperatives, and black and white Southern leaders.

Papers of John F. Johnson (1827-1902), farmer, Confederate soldier, and tax assessor, of Grady, Webster County, Mississippi. Correspondence, journals, farm records, and business papers, pertaining to Webster County, 1848-1909. Includes letters from W.C. Faulkner and U.S. Senator H.D. Money. Papers of John F. Johnson (1827-1902), farmer, Confederate soldier, and tax assessor, of Grady, Webster County, Mississippi. Includes contract between Johnson and Chaney, the freedwoman, April 11, 1866; also includes sharecropping agreements.

Darden family papersMSS. 3. 1835-1944. 0.66 cubic feet.

Personal correspondence and business and legal papers of John W., John J., Thomas L., and Putnam Darden and others; bills of sale for slaves and horses; cotton accounts; tax receipts (1849-1886); and other papers. Includes records of the Phoenix Cooperative Association, No. 516, Order of Patrons of Husbandry, including a partial list of members (1879); business statements (1877-1879), inventory (1879), minutes (1887), and receipts for expenses incurred at the Farmer's Alliance Convention, 1887-88; letters and accounts (1851-1855) relating to Franklin College, Tennessee; a statement of Josephine Darden's account at Franklin College, Holly Springs, Mississippi; and some records (1852-1860) of the Christian Church, Fayette, Mississippi, regarding the building of a chapel.

Correspondence, annual reports, minutes, financial records, maps, oral history interviews, publications and other records documenting the history of the Delta and Pine Land Company. While headquartered in Scott, Mississippi, the company was owned by a British firm throughout most of its history, and at various times it had offices in Arizona, California, and Texas. Advertised during one period as the world's largest cotton plantation, Delta and Pine Land Company grew a variety of crops and became famous for its research and development of cotton varieties. Among the major subjects in the collection are agriculture, cotton seed research, the tenant farming system, the National Cotton Council, the New Deal, the Mississippi River flood of 1927, the Mississippi Delta, and various agricultural organizations. Correspondence, annual reports, minutes, financial records, maps, oral history interviews, and other records documenting the history of the Delta and Pine Land Company. Includes records about African-American tenant farmers.

Correspondence, clippings, biographical sketches, manuscripts, research material, publications, photographs, and memorabilia, of John Oliver Emmerich, Sr., editor and publisher of the McComb, Mississippi, Enterprise Journal. Much of the collection concerns Emmerich's career and his strong interest in McComb. Included are many photographs of and much research material about the history of McComb and Pike County, which were collected for the centennial edition of the Enterprise Journal.

The collection comprises the papers of Charles Johnson Faulk, Jr. (1915-1990), Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and executive editor of the Vicksburg Evening Post (Vicksburg, Mississippi). The bulk of the collection consists of photographs taken by Faulk or collected by him, and manuscripts and copies of articles and short stories he wrote, including an unpublished autobiography. Other materials include correspondence, newspapers, publications, oral interviews and artifacts.

Correspondence, articles and clippings, speeches, photographs, awards, audiotapes and other records documenting the journalistic career of Fields (1923-2010), reporter for the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. Fields in 1975 was made capitol news reporter. She is the first female Mississippi journalist to head a full-time capitol news bureau. Field's papers reflect local and state events during her early years as a reporter, including material such as her 1967 multi-part series on her interview with a disillusioned Klan member. For the period from 1975 until Field's retirement in 1988, the papers include much material on legislative sessions and issues, women's rights, local and state politics, and the elections and gubernatorial administrations of Cliff Finch, Bill Allain, William Winter and Ray Mabus. An oral history by Dr. Lawrence Strout was added in 2009.

George (Mrs. W. L.) collectionMSS. 65. 1893-1945. 0.01 cubic feet.

Grisham (John) papersMSS. 481. 1983-2007. circa 60 cubic feet.

Materials produced by Grisham as a Mississippi State Representative (1983-1990) and created as a result of his literary career (1989-2011). Legislative subject files include materials on such legislative issues as reapportionment, highway projects in DeSoto County, government attorney's, the Memphis International Airport, tort reform, educational reform, gambling, and energy rates. Correspondence from constituents and colleagues is also included. Included also are manuscripts of Grisham's novels, screenplays and other literary products, and correspondence, publications, broadsides, newspaper clippings, audio and video recordings, and other materials relating to his literary career. The Grisham literary files are restricted.

Henry (Marion) collectionMSS. 33. 1904-68. 0.66 cubic feet.

Materials collected by Marion Henry, daughter of John Justus Henry, general agent of the Gulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad Company. Correspondence, including letters relating to the John J. Henry-Theodore G. Bilbo 1911 affair and other letters from prominent Mississippians; and broadside, newspaper clippings, and other papers concerning Oktibbeha County, Mississippi, the state of Mississippi, and U.S. and Confederate history. Correspondents include William Crump, A.H. Longino, T.C. Lowry, W.W. Magruder, and John Sharp Williams.

Hoffa (Katherine W.) papersMSS. 210. 1813-1936. 1 reel microfilm.

Materials collected by Katherine W. Hoffa include correspondence between George W. Martin, Commissioner of Land Claims, and Andrew Jackson and friends; letters of the Martin, Donelson and Hoffa families; papers regarding military service at battle of New Orleans.

Carrie McCreight Mims Page (1873-1961), a lifelong resident of Oktibbeha County, Mississippi, probably collected these materials which were found by Mr. C. H. Jackson, who donated them. Most of the collection is associated with Page or her family members. The collection documents everyday life in Starkville, Mississippi, during the period. Materials include World War I correspondence of Wyatt Mims and other war materials; a 1923 broadside about Cuba; receipts and statements, programs, tickets and other memorabilia; photographs, publications and other materials.

Johnston (Erle) papersMSS. 483. 1937-1991. 0.12 cubic feet.

Photographs, clippings, obituary, writings and certificate documenting the life and career of Johnston, as newspaper editor, campaign publicity writer, author, Sovereignty Commission director, owner of the Scott County Times, and mayor of Forrest, Mississippi. Also includes tapes of Johnston's speech to Dr. Stanley Godbold's history class, April 25, 1991.

The collection includes the correspondence, awards materials, portfolios, cartoon drawings and art, and political memorabilia of cartoonist Clayton Robert Jones, who worked for Mississippi newspapers from 1990 to 1997.

Love (Samuel David) collectionMSS. 647. 1952-1969. 0.75 cubic feet.

Materials on the Loyalist Democratic Party, voter registration, and the Citizens' Council during the 1950's and 1960's including printed material, correspondence, interview and press releases. Also included are an article and photographs concerning poverty in Oktibbeha County, Mississippi, 1969. Materials were collected by MSU alumnus Samuel David Love. Unprocessed. Preliminary inventory available.

Lynch (James D.) PapersMSS. 8. 1857-1931. 1.66 cubic feet.

Several Civil War letters in the papers of Lynch mention slave Henry; one letter mentions the slave Steve. Letter, January 6, 1865, discusses the issue of letting "negroes" fight for the confederacy, an issue Lynch favors. Letter to editor of West Point paper, January 24, 1889, concerning running for the Legislature, includes Lynch's ideas about the rights of "negroes".

Papers of MSU History Professor and author John Marszalek include manuscripts and research materials for his books. Research materials for his biography of William Tecumseh Sherman include maps, documents and facsimiles of currency, newspaper clippings dealing with St. Louis area history, circa 1864-1884 and miscellaneous clippings, 1897-1909. A large body of research material documents the General Court Martial case of Johnson C. Whittaker, including court transcripts, exhibits and other materials. Other research material and manuscripts are for his studies of Emma Holmes, Andrew Jackson and Douglas Conner and his work on The Encyclopedia of Civil Rights. Other materials concern MSU teaching and committee activities, including notes, closed correspondence, course syllabi, and exams. Some restrictions apply.

McIlhenny (George N.) papersMSS. 226. 1927-1970s. 6 cubic feet.

Collection of Mississippi State University alumnus George N. McIlhenny (1895-1968) of Lake (Scott County), Mississippi, includes personal and family correspondence, publications, photographs, memorabilia and other materials from his life and career as a consultant. Among the materials are Thomas L. Bailey gubernatorial campaign material, 1939; materials concerning the Know Mississippi Better Train, 1927, and the Citizens Protective Agency. Also includes letters from Martin Sennett Conner, James P. Coleman, Ross Barnett, James O. Eastland, John C. Stennis and others concerning McIlhenny's genetic studies on sickle cell anemia and his theories concerning the medical necessity for racial segregation. Also includes Citizens' Council materials from Alabama and Mississippi, material on the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission, the Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway and studies for economic development in Harrison and Claiborne Counties and other topics.

Papers of Willie J. Miller (1902-1996), a native of Yazoo City, Mississippi, and a resident of Jackson, Mississippi, who established the Mississippi Enterprise, a weekly newspaper targeting Mississippi African-Americans in 1938. The forerunner of the paper was the Mississippi Weekly begun by Julia Hibbler Miller, Miller's first wife. The paper was sent to St. Louis for printing during the early days of its publication history. In the 1950s, editions of the Mississippi Enterprise were also published in Meridian, Vicksburg, Greenville and St. Louis. Apparently materials generated from the early production years of the newspaper are no longer extant. The papers include manuscripts of articles, press releases, obituaries, advertising copy, photographs, financial records, newspapers and other materials, primarily from the years 1974-1988. Photographs are those collected for printing in the paper and these document African American events, institutions, issues and personalities. The textual materials in the newspaper files also document national, state and local African American history, including materials on events, issues and personalities. The papers also contain some general documentation of non-African- American historical events and personalities.

Minor (Wilson F. "Bill") papersMSS. 80. 1936-2011. 27.75 cubic feet.

Correspondence, articles, speeches, press releases, campaign materials, clippings, photographs and other documents amassed in the course of Minor's career as a journalist in Mississippi. Minor was born in Hammond, Louisiana, in 1922 and received his degree in journalism from Tulane University. He began work for the New Orleans Times-Picayune in 1942. Beginning in 1947, Minor worked in Jackson as a reporter on Mississippi politics for the Times-Picayune, and continued writing his "Eyes on Mississippi" column until the paper's Jackson bureau was closed in 1976. A specialist in Mississippi politics, Minor in that year elected to stay in Jackson and take over the editorship of the weekly Capitol Reporter. In 1981, Minor became a syndicated political columnist and television commentator. The Minor papers are an important continuous source of information on news and political events, and the issues and personalities of the time period of Minor's career, with emphasis on racial issues and the political development of Mississippi. In addition, they tell the story of a most controversial and influential journalist.

Minutes, correspondence, proceedings, press releases and mailouts, programs, contest and advertising materials, photographs, memorabilia, newspaper issues, articles, clippings and publications documenting the activities of the Mississippi Press Association, Mississippi journalists and the Mississippi press. Founded in 1866, the Mississippi Press Association has represented the newspapers of the state continuously from its Jackson, Mississippi, offices during its 131 years of operation. Included among the many publications in the records are a history of individual members of the Mississippi press (1941), centennial, 125th anniversary, and other special editions of The Mississippi Press, and all issues of The Mississippi Press and The Fourth Estate, the organization's quarterly newsletter. Records received in 2000-2010 are in process, but usable.

Journals, financial records, correspondence, photographs, family history, and miscellany, mostly pertaining to James C. Neilson, a Lowndes County, Mississippi, farmer, Mississippi state legislator, and Grange member. Among the topics in his journals are freedmen's accounts, race relations, church, the Grange, the legislature, an arson trial, and his family. Also included are the 1962 journal of Sarah Neilson, which mentions the riots at the University of Mississippi; a history of the Boykin family; and printed documents concerning the Columbus Riflemen and a Confederate veterans group. Loaned for copying by Lillian Neilson. For related papers, see the Sarah Neilson collection.

New Mississippi Socialist newspaperMSS. 417. 1916. 1 item.

Issue of November 15, 1916 (Vol. 1, no. 10) of The New Mississippi Socialist newspaper, based in Kilmichael, Mississippi, and edited by J. H. Merten. Originally published as Mississippi Socialist until printing plant burned down. Only copy known.

Oral History collectionMSS. 550. 1950s-2001. circa 3 cubic feet

Oral histories of extension agents, politicians and local citizens. Topics include African-American history, women's history, the Vietnam War, agriculture, and Mississippi State University, Starkville and West Point history.

Partial Emmitt Till trial transcript MSS. 802. 1955. 0.02
cubic ft.

Fully legible copy of the typescript transcript of the second half of the trial for the murder of
Emmitt Till. This material was collected by Bryan Maxwell Newman, who obtained the copy shortly
after the trial concluded in 1955. Mr. Newman was employed near Greenwood, Mississippi where the
trial took place.

Political Broadside collection MSS. 747. 1940-1983. 0.65
cubic ft.

Pound (Thompson) papersMSS. 333. 1960-1976. 35 cubic feet.

Includes correspondence, reports, maps clippings, and publications, primarily concerning the Tombigbee River Valley Water Management District, which Pound served as Executive Director for ten years. Other subjects include the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, legislation, history of Pontotoc County, and education. In process. Preliminary inventory.

Ramsey (Marshall) papersMSS. 575.

Rand (Clayton) papersMSS. 91. 1918-1971. 33 cubic feet.

Papers of Clayton Thomas Rand (1891-1971), author, columnist, speaker, and publisher of the Dixie Guide, Gulfport, Mississippi. Rand graduated from Mississippi A&M College in 1911, operated newspapers in Neshoba County and other parts of north Mississippi, and in the 1920's moved to the Mississippi Gulf Coast, where he resided until his death. Included are correspondence; manuscripts of speeches, books, pamphlets, and columns; financial records; clippings; printed material and photographs. The collection reflects Rand's varied activities and his political views.

Family papers of Nannie Herndon Rice, librarian at Mississippi State University. Correspondence, diaries, genealogical data, deeds, ledgers, claims, estate papers, bills of sale for slaves, rent and labor contracts, school reports (1866-71), photographs and other papers of Miss Rice and members of her family. Papers of Miss Rice describe Meadow Woods, the Rice plantation in Oktibbeha County, Mississippi, her student days at Mississippi State College for Women, Columbia University, Vassar College Training Camp for Nurses, and the University of Illinois, and associations as a librarian at Mississippi State University. Other papers include those of Miss Rice's grandparents, John W. Rice and Augusta (Hopkins) Rice, her father, Arthur H. Rice, physician and planter of Oktibbeha County, Mississippi, her great-uncle and aunt, John James Walker and Maria (Hopkins) Walker, her paternal great-grandfather, Arthur Francis Hopkins, of Alabama, and others, relating to the Civil War, Reconstruction, the Mississippi Legislature, travel in Europe, and other subjects. Correspondents include Braxton Bragg, H.L. Mencken, Pauline V. Orr, LeRoy Percy, LeRoy Pope Walker, Percy Walker, Richard Henry Wilde, and John Sharp Williams. Unpublished guide in the library. Information on literary rights available in the library. Additions: In process.

Robson (George) collectionMSS. 422. 1968-1972. 0.16 cubic feet.

Printed material concerning mostly civil disobedience in the U.S. during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Among the items in the collection are a pamphlet entitled "The Plot Against Black America" and Combat: The Newsletter that keeps you informed about the revolutionary struggle in America today.

Salter (Sidney L. "Sid") papersMSS. 490. 1890-1998. 6 cubic feet.

Papers of Salter, born in 1959 in Philadelphia, Mississippi. Salter received his B.A. from Mississippi State University and began his career as assistant sports editor for The Starkville Daily News in 1981. In successive career moves from 1982 to 1983, Salter served as associate editor for The Neshoba Democrat and managing editor at The Bolivar Commercial before becoming publisher and editor of The Scott County Times/The Morton Tribune in 1983. From 1989 to 1991, Salter was also publisher of The Aberdeen Examiner/The Amory Advertiser. Salter's syndicated political column appears in more than 40 daily and weekly newspapers and as of 1992, was the most widely published opinion/editorial column in the state. Salter also served as a political columnist for The Clarion Ledger. Salter has won numerous journalism awards and is active in the Mississippi Press Association and in other journalism activities. Included in the papers are letters from readers concerning Salter columns, and letters from leaders in politics, education, and other fields concerning current issues. Also included are files containing legal documents, press releases, publications, photographs, reports, articles and other materials on topics that have been the subject of Salter columns. Other materials document Salter's career and public activities, including speeches, memorabilia, articles and awards materials. Clippings of Salter's syndicated columns are also included. Papers are partially restricted.

Scarbrough (James) papersMSS. 27. 1822-1917. 0.66 cubic feet.

Papers of Scarbrough, a farmer of Webster County, Mississippi. Personal correspondence, accounts, promissory notes, tax receipts, and other business papers from Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Sumner (now Webster) Counties, Mississippi, Confederate military papers, memorabilia, and other papers of Scarbrough, his wife Sara (Wells) Scarbrough, and their sons, Charles Wells, R.G. and G.W. Scarbrough.

Smith (Frank E.) collectionMSS. 94. 1962-1973. 22 cubic feet.

Collection of Frank Smith (1918-1997) includes the following: material pertaining to Mr. Smith's work with TVA; material accumulated as a result of his service on the Southern Regional Council; materials for the five volume series he edited, Conservation in the U.S.: A Documentary History.

Smith (Hazel Brannon) papersMSS. 445. 1945-1976. 0.75 cubic feet.

Letters, clippings, pamphlets, certificates, artifact and other materials concerning Smith (1914-1994). The bulk of Smith's papers were destroyed in a fire at the Lexington Advertiser. Smith was born in Gadsden, Alabama, and graduated from the University of Alabama in 1935 with a B.A. in Journalism. In that year she came to Mississippi and purchased the Durant News. By 1943, that paper was successful enough to allow Smith to purchase the Lexington Advertiser, which she edited and published from 1943 to 1983. Smith purchased the Banner County Outlook (Flora) in 1956 and the Northside Reporter (Jackson) in 1956. Smith used her column "Through Hazel's Eyes" and her editorials to comment on social injustice and political corruption. In 1964, because of her stand against the Citizens' Councils, Smith received the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing for her "steadfast adherence to her editorial duty in the face of great pressure and opposition". Smith was the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing. Smith's other awards include the 1st prize award from the National Federation of Press Women 1946 and 1955; and the Herrick Award for Editorial Writing, 1956. Smith was also named Woman of Achievement by the National Federation of Press Women.

Starkville Pride collection MSS. 794. 2018. .03 cubic ft.

Correspondence, reports, clippings, scrapbooks, photographs, publications, and other records of Boswell Stevens (1896-1986), farmer of Noxubee County, Mississippi, and president of the Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation (1950-1972). Among the many organizations with which he was associated were the American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Cotton Council of America, the American Dairy Association of Mississippi, the Mississippi Federated Cooperatives, the Southern Farm Bureau insurance companies, the Mississippi Chemical Corporation, the Coastal Chemical Association, the Mississippi Board of Trustees for Institutions of Higher Learning, Mississippi State University, and the Mississippi Industrial and Technological Research Commission. The collection reflects the varied activities of Stevens, with emphasis on agricultural and economic development issues. Included is correspondence with many United States congressman and Mississippi governmental officials.

Toler (James Kenneth) papersMSS. 89. 1928-1966. 2 cubic feet.

Papers of journalist Toler (1904-1966) include correspondence, speeches, press releases, clippings, and photographs, chiefly concerning political, legislative, and racial events in Mississippi, during his career as a correspondent for the Associated Press and the Memphis Commercial Appeal. Toler was born in Crowley, Louisiana, and attended Louisiana State University. He began his career on the Crowley Daily Signal. Toler's specialty was Mississippi politics. From 1928 on he covered the Mississippi legislature and the capitol, and his papers reflect that specialty in their documentation of the outstanding events of the period.

Personal and business correspondence, accounts, receipts, deeds, slave records, tax receipts, military orders, genealogical material and other papers of the James Sykes family of Columbus, Mississippi. Includes letters from cotton brokers in West Point, Mississippi, Mobile, Alabama, St. Louis, Missouri, and New Orleans, Louisiana; letters from Alleghany Springs and Blue Ridge Springs, Virginia, and White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia; letters from Wildie and Ida Sykes at Patapsco Female Institute, Ellicott City, Maryland, and from James W. Sykes, Jr. at Belleview High School, Bedford County, Virginia, and Poughkeepsie Business Institute, New York. Other material relates to Columbus, Mississippi, schools and Columbus Methodist Church. Persons represented include James Sykes (1810-1885), his wife Martha Lanier Sykes (1815-1881), her mother Elizabeth Lanier, his brother William Sykes of Winona, Mississippi, and his grandchildren, Ida (Sykes) Billups (1858-1891) and her husband Thomas Carleton Billups (1839-1898), Wildie (Sykes) Billups and her husband Joseph Saunders Billups, and James W. Sykes, Jr. Additions include correspondence, estate records, farm record ledgers, receipts, photographs, newspapers and other materials.

The collection documents the history of the Williams family from 1823 to 1966, most notably Campbell "Cammie" Williams and his brother, Mims Williams. The papers consist of correspondence, Civil War tax documents, bills and account statements, contracts, newspaper clippings, genealogical material, essays, poetry, cards, and miscellany.

WLBT archivesMSS. 366. 1967-1980. 155 cubic feet.

Correspondence, memoranda, board minutes, programming logs, newscast scripts, photographs, videotapes, and news film documenting the policies and operation of television station WLBT in Jackson, Mississippi, during the period (1971-1980) in which Communications Improvement, Inc., a non-profit organization, held the station's interim license.